Info Tech: January 12, 2011 eNewsLetter |
Storage vendor NetApp has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Akorri Networks. Although the terms of the cash deal were not revealed, the acquisition should be completed in NetApp's fiscal fourth quarter. The company says the deal will help it automate, analyze, and manage IT infrastructures.
The privately held Akorri, which provides data center management software for performance capacity analytics for virtualized, shared IT infrastructures, helps users discover performance issues and boost storage capacity planning. Its BalancePoint product is virtual infrastructure management software for analytics across virtualization layers and technology silos for virtual and physical server and storage infrastructure.
A report on CRN says that Akorri more than doubled its customer-base in 2010, according to the two companies. In the first quarter of 2010, Akorri raised more than $10 million in funding, reaching more than $50 million since the company began in 2005.
Akorri’s founder and CTO Rich Corley said, "Akorri and NetApp share a common vision of a dynamic IT infrastructure that is tightly integrated and highly efficient. Akorri has emerged as a leader in performance management software by providing greater visibility and insight across the entire IT stack. Customers are thinking differently and choosing NetApp today as they transition to a shared IT infrastructure. The combination of our two companies will provide our customers the most comprehensive tools to plan for change and growth in their business.”
NetApp says the acquisition will help both companies to provide customers with tools to automate and analyze shared IT infrastructures, addressing both storage management and analytics. The acquisition extends NetApp’s OnCommand product with performance capacity analytics. As a result, its customers will have improved visibility across the IT stack to boost users’ IT efficiency and flexibility by helping control, automate and analyze shared infrastructure.
"The ability to accurately predict and manage performance and capacity requirements has been a common obstacle for many customers wanting to transition to a virtualized environment," Manish Goel, executive vice president of product operations at NetApp, remarked in a statement. "Akorri further strengthens NetApp's data management capabilities to achieve greater quality of service and performance in their virtual and cloud environments. With these enhanced capabilities, customers can accelerate their transition to a shared IT infrastructure so that they can use IT as a tool to capitalize on new growth opportunities and spend fewer resources managing their environments."
In recent news, Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) announced that it has revamped its IT infrastructure by using efficient IT and virtualization solutions from NetApp. In late 2010, research firm Gartner (News 
- Alert) ranked NetApp as a leading provider of modular disk arrays.
